ESPN Replaces Sunday Night Baseball with 'Women's Sports Sundays'

 

ESPN announced that it is launching a new weekly primetime programming block called Women's Sports Sundays. Starting this summer, the network will use the Sunday night slot, long home to Major League Baseball, to showcase top women's sports instead.

For 36 years (1990–2025), Sunday Night Baseball was a summer staple on ESPN, giving fans prime-time MLB games every week. That ends now because MLB moved the Sunday night package to NBC as part of new TV rights deals. ESPN still has rights to 30 midweek MLB games and will help distribute MLB.TV, but the big Sunday night baseball broadcasts are gone from the network.

What "Women's Sports Sundays" Will Look Like

• 12 live games over nine consecutive weeks this summer.
• Featured leagues: WNBA and NWSL.
• Games will air in primetime on ESPN, presented by Ally.
• Extra coverage includes studio shows, player stories, highlights, and digital/social content across all ESPN platforms.

Why Now?

ESPN has been the leader in women’s sports coverage for years, airing thousands of hours of WNBA, NWSL, college sports, and more. With growing fan interest, the network saw an open Sunday night window and decided to fill it intentionally.

The change has sparked mixed reactions online; some fans are excited for more women’s sports in prime time, while others are disappointed to see baseball leave the slot. But for ESPN, it’s a chance to turn summer Sundays into a destination for women’s athletics.

More details on exact game matchups, announcers, and start dates will be released soon. For now, one thing is clear: Sunday nights on ESPN are about to look very different this summer.